The Five Layers of Cognitive Ecology

The Cognitive Ecology Model maps how thought, creativity, and healing unfold across five interwoven layers. These layers are not separate—they flow into and influence each other, like rings in a living tree.

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Visual Diagram

[ Structural Layer ]
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[ Cultural Layer ]
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[ Institutional Layer ]
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[ Relational Layer ]
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[ Sensory Layer ]

Visual metaphor: Imagine these layers as concentric rings of a tree trunk or ripples in water—each one holding and shaping the others.

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Layer Descriptions

1. Sensory Layer
Pre-verbal knowing, body sensations, nervous system responses, and the intelligence of the fascia and felt sense.

2. Relational Layer
The co-regulatory field between people, and the ways relationships shape attention, memory, and self-perception.

3. Institutional Layer
The influence of schools, workplaces, medical systems, and other formal structures on the way we process, mask, or suppress parts of ourselves.

4. Cultural Layer
The inherited narratives about identity, success, ability, productivity, gender, race, and more—and how these shape our internal worlds.

5. Structural Layer
Systems of power and oppression that affect who has access to safety, care, education, and self-expression.

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Key Principles

• Embodied Cognition: The body is a site of knowing.
• Relational Intelligence: Insight and healing happen between people, not just within individuals.
• Contextual Awareness: Cognitive experiences are shaped by the world around us.
• Neurodivergent Wisdom: Nonlinear and intuitive ways of thinking are valid, vital, and visionary.

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This model is evolving. It’s part of a larger commitment to transformative education, neurodivergent liberation, and relational scholarship.